Sydenham Pit and Drainage Pumping Station 1 facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sydenham Pit & Drainage Pumping Station 1 |
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Sydenham Pit and Drainage Pumping Station, Garden Street, Marrickville, NSW
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| Location | Garden Street, Marrickville, Inner West Council, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Built | 1935–1941 |
| Architect | New South Wales Public Works Department |
| Owner | Sydney Water |
| Official name: Sydenham Pit & Drainage Pumping Station 1; Sydenham Stormwater Basin; Drainage Pumping Station (DPS1) | |
| Type | state heritage (built) |
| Designated | 15 November 2002 |
| Reference no. | 1644 |
| Type | Other - Utilities - Water |
| Category | Utilities - Water |
| Builders | New South Wales Public Works Department |
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The Sydenham Pit & Drainage Pumping Station 1 is a special old building in Marrickville, Sydney, Australia. It's a pumping station and a big drain for stormwater. You can find it on Garden Street, right next to the railway line between Sydenham and St Peters railway station.
This important place was designed by the NSW Public Works Department. It was built between 1935 and 1941. It's also known as the Sydenham Stormwater Basin and Drainage Pumping Station (DPS1). Today, Sydney Water looks after it. Because it's so important, it was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on November 15, 2002.
Contents
Why Was It Built?
Dealing with Floods in Marrickville
In the 1880s, more and more people started moving to the Marrickville Valley. This happened after the Illawarra railway was finished past Sydenham. Soon, people realized that the valley had a big problem with water and flooding.
To help with the floods, a stormwater pumping station was built in 1897. Three large stormwater channels were also created. These were called the Eastern, Western, and Central Channels.
Building During the Great Depression
In the 1930s, the government decided to make the drainage system even better. They used money from special unemployment relief funds for these projects. This helped people who didn't have jobs during the Great Depression.
The plan included digging a huge storage pit and building a new pumping station. This station would pump water into the Eastern Channel. A system of smaller channels was also built to direct water into the pit. The Public Works Department built the pit and pumping station in the late 1930s. In 1941, it was handed over to the Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board.
Updates Over the Years
After some heavy rains in the 1950s, parts of the pit walls fell down. They were rebuilt to make them stronger. In 1968, a concrete floor was added to the bottom of the pit, along with a special "silt pit" to collect dirt.
More recently, starting in 2019, the area around the stormwater drain has been used for the Sydney Metro City & Southwest project. A new water bridge was built over the old Sydenham Pit. The original pumping station was kept safe during this construction.
What Does It Look Like?
The Sydenham Storage Pit and Pumping Station has two main parts: the pit and the pumping station. They work together.
The Big Pit
The pit is a large basin that is about nine meters deep. Its sides are sloped, like a ramp, and are covered with sandstone blocks. These blocks are laid flat in rows, each about 30 centimeters high. The blocks vary in length, from square shapes to over one meter long.
There's a ramp on the northern side that goes down to the bottom of the pit. Water from channels flows into the pit through openings on the southeast and western sides. The edges of the site are planted with Oleander bushes.
The Pumping Station Building
The pumping station building is made of strong reinforced concrete. It has several tall concrete "fins" that rise 12 meters from the bottom of the pit. These fins hold up the pump house, which is the main part of the building. The floor of the pump house is about 1.8 meters above the street level.
The building has five concrete fins with four round water shafts in between them. The front of the building is supported by three concrete pillars connected by a beam. The pump house itself is about 7.2 meters wide, 17 meters long, and 5.6 meters high inside. There's also a smaller room next to it for electrical switches.
The pump house has a tiled gable roof. The front and back of the building have three tall, narrow windows. The sides have five vertical windows. The building was designed in a style called Inter-War Mediterranean domestic style. The pumping station and drain are still mostly in their original condition.
Why Is It Important?
The Sydenham Pit and Pumping Station is important for its history, its looks, and its engineering.
Historical Importance
This station was the first of its kind in the Sydney Water system. It's a big and complete part of the system built to stop flooding in Marrickville. This area often flooded as more people moved in after the 1870s.
The huge size of the pit and the way it was built using a lot of manual labor shows how public works projects were used to help unemployed people during the Great Depression in the 1930s. It's a major landmark in the industrial area of Sydenham, especially when you see it from the railway.
Beautiful Design
The sandstone walls of the pit are beautiful. They have a nice texture and color. The pumping station building is a great example of a useful building that also looks good. It uses design features from the Inter-War Mediterranean style, like its tiled roof and strong window frames.
Technical Importance
Inside the pumping station, you can still find working pumps from the 1930s. Three of these, made by Metropolitan Vickers, are quite rare in the area. The original electrical equipment is also still there, even though the system was updated around 1992.
Rarity
The Sydenham Pit and Drainage Pumping Station 1 is one of only two such facilities in the Sydney Water system. It is also one of the largest and most noticeable stormwater storage places in Sydney.
